Mathew White with his family, Ben (6), Amy (3) and Helen at their Sonning Common home

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Hours after celebrating Father’s Day with his two-year-old daughter Amy, Mathew White was standing next to her hospital bed wondering if she was going to die.

The toddler was suddenly struck by a massive internal infection while at home with her family.

Within hours she was in intensive care, in a coma, with her family fearing the worst.

But thanks to the dedication of doctors and nurses and a month of gruelling treatment, she is back home having made a full recovery.

Now Mr White, 35, is determined to pay back the medical staff who saved his daughter by taking on a punishing sponsored cycle in America’s Death Valley.

The finance manager, from Orchard Avenue, Sonning Common, said: “It was on Father’s Day last year. Amy was just recovering from chicken pox, which she had had for the previous week.

“All of a sudden she fell really ill. She was zonked. We couldn’t sit her up in bed. She didn’t want to be touched and she had difficulty breathing.

“We knew something wasn’t right.

“She was taken firstly to the RBH and very quickly they realised she was seriously ill.

“They weren’t sure what was wrong but they knew her system was shutting down.

“They arranged for a mobile intensive care unit to take her from the RBH to the paediatric intensive care unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

“She was wired up to the hilt, and at that point, you fear the worst. We felt so helpless.”

Amy was first placed into an isolation unit and then induced into a coma which lasted for a week.

Her mother Helen, now 35, maintained a constant sleepless vigil at her bedside while doctors tried a variety of treatments.

Mr White was constantly on the road between the hospital and the family home.

The stress was magnified as both parents tried to play down the illness to spare Amy’s four-year-old brother Ben from worry.

Eventually Amy responded to treatment for her condition, which is now believed to have been linked to a Streptococcal infection.

After a further fortnight in hospital, Amy was allowed to return home to her family.

Fortunately she has no recollection of the ordeal.

Mr White said: “One of the drugs they gave her was derived from bone marrow. By sheer coincidence I had given a bone marrow donation to someone I didn’t know nine months before.

“Life has a funny way of paying you back doesn’t it?

“We are so grateful to the guys at the JR. They saved her.”

Mr White’s gratitude has led him to take on a five-day 423km bike ride through the notorious Death Valley desert on behalf of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Charitable Funds.

The former Caversham Park Primary and Chiltern Edge pupil said some friends have been sceptical about his ability to complete the November challenge, as he admits he cycled ‘maybe once a year’ before he began his training regime.

But he has signed up several sponsors already, with friends, relatives and his teammates at Sunday league football team Woodford Park all pitching in.

Mr White added: “We will never forget the care, compassion and consideration that everyone had and the support given to myself and my wife through what was the worst period of our lives.”

Penny Hambridge, from the hospital’s fundraising team, said: “Mat is certainly taking on a tough challenge and we wish him the very best of luck. Our thanks go to him for supporting the Critical Care Unit.

“Any money raised goes to help us provide medical equipment and facilities above and beyond what the NHS alone can fund.”

Mr White has paid for all travel and arrangements himself, so all sponsorship will go direct to the charity. His JustGiving page can be found at www.justgiving.com/Mathewwhite

Death Valley facts:

Death Valley is a 130-mile long stretch of unforgiving South California desert.

It is one of the hottest places on earth, with temperatures reaching up to 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

But as well as searing temperatures, Mr White will also need to cope with 3,400ft inclines and the worry of extreme saddle sore.

Day 1 – A 48km cycle from Beatty Junction to Stovepipe Wells.

Day 2 – A gruelling 87km ride from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs.

Day 3 – The 90km Panamint Springs to Furnace Creek stretch, which contains approximately 3,400ft of ascent, but 5,000ft of descent.

Day 4 – The second longest leg of 98km, from Furnace Creek to Pahrump via Devils Hole – a Death Valley National Monument.

Day 5 – A final 100km to cover from Pahrump to Las Vegas via tour high-point Mountain Springs Summit and Red Rock Canyons.